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The story
The group can trace its heritage back to the original Carl Zeiss AG company, founded in Jena in 1846. In 1846 Zeiss opened his optical workshop in Jena. After Carl Zeiss's death, Ernst Abbe, who had joined the workshop, became the sole owner and established the Carl Zeiss Foundation Jena, which subsequently owned the Carl Zeiss company and the Schott glassworks. In 1948, the Zeiss factory and the Schott glassworks were nationalised.
Following World War II, Jena fell within the Soviet occupation zone, later to become East Germany. In 1948, when it was apparent that the Soviet authorities were moving toward establishing a separate Communist state in their occupation territory, most of the main Zeiss company swiftly relocated to West Germany. The Soviet and East German authorities took over the old Zeiss factory in Jena and used it as the nucleus for the state-owned Kombinat VEB Zeiss Jena. In the mid-1950s, Carl Zeiss Jena registered the Jenoptik brand as the formal establishment of the name.
Following German reunification, and the fall of communism, the Treuhandanstalt took over the VEB Zeiss Jena combine. The Jena parent company was initially formed into Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH. The company then sold its microscopy division and other optical divisions to Carl Zeiss AG, effectively reuniting the old prewar Zeiss firm. Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH was renamed Jenoptik Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH on September 10, 1990. At the time the company consisted of 13 companies and employed approximately 30,000 people.
On June 25, 1991, an agreement was signed between the Treuhandanstalt, the states of Baden-Würtemberg and Thuringia, and the Zeiss companies. Lothar Späth, the former Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, became the head of Jenoptik Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH. That same year, Jenoptik Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH transitioned into Jenoptik GmbH, a state-owned company tasked with structural development in Jena, becoming the legal successor to the former state-owned combine. Jenoptik GmbH inherited the optoelectronics, systems engineering, photonics, mechatronics, and precision manufacturing divisions.
Divisions of Jenoptik Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH not transferred to Jenoptik GmbH were integrated into the newly formed Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH. Initially, Carl Zeiss AG, in Oberkochen, held 51% of Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH shares, while the Free State of Thuringia held 49%, managed by Jenoptik GmbH. In 1995, Carl Zeiss Oberkochen acquired Thuringia's share, consolidating its ownership.
In the ensuing years, the Jenoptik Group underwent restructuring to enhance profitability. The company engaged in acquiring new businesses and divesting others. A significant acquisition was Meissner + Wurst GmbH Co. KG (now M+W Group) from Stuttgart in 1994, which facilitated entry into several markets, especially in Asia. The company's premises in Jena were redesigned, with former Zeiss sites renovated and repurposed for new uses.
On May 10, 1995, Jenoptik transferred its 49 percent stake in Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH to Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen. Subsequently, on 1 January, 1996, the stated divested its interest and Jenoptik was converted into a stock corporation, renamed Jenoptik AG. In the same year, Jenoptik incorporated ESW GmbH from Wedel (now VINCORION), through which Jenoptik is involved in the production of the Puma infantry fighting vehicle.
Jenoptik held its initial public offering (IPO) on June 16, 1998, with an issue price of DM 34.00. In 1999, the company founded CyBio, originally known as Jenoptik Bioinstruments, as a spin-off company. In February 2002, Jenoptik Diode Lab GmbH was established in Berlin-Adlershof as a wholly owned subsidiary in collaboration with the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institute für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH), focussing on high-power laser diode research. In 2003, Lothar Späth transitioned from his role as Chairman of the Management Board to join the Supervisory Board.
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The JENOPTIK trademark is owned by Jenoptik AG. Jenoptik is regarded as one of the few companies descended from an East German state-owned enterprise to be successful in the post-Reunification era.
In 2004, Concord Camera Corp. of the United States acquired a related company Jenimage Europe GmbH, and licensed the right to use the Jenoptik trademark for 20 years. It produced a range of compact digital cameras under the Jenoptik brand.
In May 2005, Jenoptik inaugurated a research centre for plastic optics in Triptis, Thuringia. By this time, Jena-Optronik GmbH, established in 1991, had become a wholly owned subsidiary of Jenoptik. During the same year, the company decided at its Annual General Meeting to divest its Clean Systems division to focus on its more profitable optics business. Consequently, Jenoptik sold its shares in M+W Zander Holding AG (now M+W Group) in Stuttgart to the investment firm Springwater Capital. This move significantly downsized the company, which had recently employed around 10,000 people.
In August 2017, the company announced it would acquire the American-based process automation firm, Five Lakes, merging the company with its laser-machine business.
In 2018, Jenoptik acquired Prodomax Automation Ltd., a Canadian manufacturer of automated production lines, to add to their technology portfolio of laser processing and automation.
After Jenoptik announced in July 2019 to aim for a sale of this company division to concentrate the core business with lasers, measurement technology and optical systems, Vincorion was sold to a Fund of the British financial investor Star Capital Partnership in November 2021. Jenoptik indicated a company value of 130 million euros.
As of September 2020, Jenoptik acquired the Hamburg-based optics group TRIOPTICS, an international supplier of test equipment and manufacturing systems for optical components and digitalization. In late 2021, the company acquired BG Medical Applications GmbH, a supplier of precision optical components for the medical technology sector, and the SwissOptic Group, a developer and manufacturer of optical components and assemblies for the medical technology, semiconductor and metrology sectors.
As a partner in NASA's Mars 2020 mission, Jenoptik produced lens assemblies for the engineering cameras of the Mars rover, Perseverance, which began its expedition on Mars in February 2021. In November 2021, Jenoptik became a member of the United Nations Global Compact network for corporate responsibility and committed to compliance with integrating aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals into its business strategies."
In December 2021, the company released a new business strategy, Agenda 2025 'More Value,' and an organizational restructuring took effect in April 2022. The group focused its operations on purely photonics technologies by consolidating its three prior divisions into two: "Advanced Photonics Solutions" and "Smart Mobility Solutions." Since the 2022 restructuring, Jenoptik's primary markets are the semiconductor equipment and electronics, life science and medical technology, and traffic and security industries. Its non-photonic activities, particularly within the automotive market, operate within the group's "Non-Photonic Portfolio Companies.
From Wikipedia’s article on Jenoptik, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5